Sand gathering and delivering apparatus for molding machines



Sept. 22, 1925. 1 ,554,972 J. C. MERWIN SAND GATHERING AND DELIVERINGAPPARATUS FOE MOLDING MACHINES Filed April 1a, 1921- s sheets-sheet 1Sept. 22, 1925.

1,554,972 J. c. MERWIN SAND GATHERING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS FORMOLDING MACHINES Filed April 1.6 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 22, 1925. n1,554,972 1 J. C. MERWIN SAND GATHERING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS FOR'IIQIJDING MACHINES Filed April 16, 192 :s shank-sheet s Patented Sept.22, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,554,912 PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN CLIFFORD MERWIN,',OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB TO CHAIN BEIJI-COMPANY, 01 MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

SAND GATHERING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS FOR MOLDING MACHINES.

Application filed April 16,.1921. S er1a11\o.481,844.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, JOHN CLIFFORD MER- WIN, a citizen .of the UnitedStates, resid ing at- Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State ofWisconsin, have 1nvented certain new and useful Improvements in SandGathering and Deliver ng Apparatus for Molding Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus used in foundries and comprises aportable carriage or truck that may carry one or more molding machines,and which is'provided with a hopper for the molders sand used in makingthe molds and with apparatus for taking the loose sand from the floor ofthe foundry and delivering it to the ho per.

In oundry practice it is now quite'common to employ power-driven moldingmachines supported upon portable trucks that are movable over thefoundry floor. The molder upon one of these machines fills the moldsfrom the sand contained in a hopper, places the completed molds upon thefloor of the foundry to one side of or behind the machine as itisadvanced. The molds are subsequently poured and when the castings havecooled these are shaken out and the sand is deposited, usually inridges, upon the floor of the foundry to be subsequently taken up andused again.

My invention has for its object to provide apparatus that takes the sandfrom the floor of the foundry, elevates it and delivers it into the hoper in condition for use in makin the mol s.

In t e accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of an apparatu embodying my improvements;

Fig. 2 is a front end view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a side view of a somewhat diffei'ent form of machine embodyingmy invention.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating a portion of the trainof gearingemployed in the machine illustrated in F igs.

1 and 2.

In the drawings, 2 indicates a portable carriage supported upon wheels 3and carrying a hopper 4 adapted to contain molders sand. At one end ofthe carriage there is.

supported an upright .frame 5 carrying an elevator 6 of suitableconstruction, that indicated in the drawings being a bucket elevator,provided at its lower end' with a boot '7 into which the lower end ofthe elevator extends and into which the material to be taken up by theelevator is delivered. The upright supplemental frame 5 is bodilyadjustable relative to the carriage 5- so that provided with a pair ofsupporting wheels 9 adapted to rest upon the floor surface when theframe 5 is lowered into working position. However, these wheels may beomitted, as representedin Fig. 3, the weight .of the frame 5 in thatinstance being carried entirely by the extension 8 of the carriage 2.

The frame 5 is provided with a gathering and conveying device 10'adaptedto collect from thefioor of the foundry the sand that may be depositedthereon and deliver it to the elevator 6,- the boot 7 thereof in theconstruction illustrated. This gatherin device, which extends the fullwidth 0% the portable machine or even somewhat beyond its sides, if thisbe found desirable, comprises a shaft 11 and collecting andconve ingblades 12. supported and are so disposed as to feed the material to theelevator. They serve not only 'to gather and feed the material but alsotodlsintegrate or break it up to a certain extent. The gathering device10 is covered by a hood 13 at the lower forward .edge of which islocated a s rinkler pipe 14 by means of which the san may be dampenedwhenever this is desirable.

The elevator discharges, at its upper end, into a chute 15 delivering tothe hopper.

The frame 5 carries racks 16, vertically disposed, with which engagedriven pinions 17 by means of which the frame as a whole may be liftedso that the gatherin device 10 will clear the material on the oor, aswhen the apparatus is being moved from place to place in the foundrywithout being in operation. I

The independent frame 5, which carries the elevator and the gatheringdevices, may

These blades are suitab yof the lation to the latter two. The advanta sof c this arrangement are that no very eavy load has to be moved inadjustin the frame 5; and it is possible to lift the rame but a littleand there hold it and then operate the machine with the gatheringdevices raiseda little above the surface of the floor of the foundry andyet maintained in such relative position as to function properly. Thismay be desirable where there are obstructions or ine ualities in thefoundry floor which might l e encountered by some of the parts theringdevice if maintained as close to t e floor as it would be desirableunder normal conditions where the surface over which the carriage movesis perfectly smooth.

18 designates a motor supported upon the carriage 2. The motor shaft isconnected by gearing 19 19 with one or more of the supporting wheels 3and through this train, which should of course include a clutch, theapparatus may be propelled. The motor is connected through another trainof gearing 20 with the shaft 21 carrying the lower tuming wheel of theelevator 6 and through this gear train the elevator is driven, thedrlve, as is each other one in the machine, being provided, if desired,with a clutch, so that the art driven may be in operation or at rest astlie operator of the machine may elect.

Still another gear train connectsthe shaft 21 of the elevator with theshaft .11 of'the 4O l 1 of driving connection, as shown in Fig. 1,"or

gathering device 10. This gear train may include a chain belt or otherflexible form a train of ear wheels 22' as represented in Fi 3. e geartrain just referred to and i1 ustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, comprises apair of spur gears 31 connecting the-shaft 21 of the elevator with the"shaft 32' supported in the frame of the elevator parallel with the shaft21, and a belt 22 connecting shafts 32 and 11. Another gear trainincludin with t e shaft carrying the pinions 17 by which the frame 5 isad usted with reference to the floor surface. a

The hopper 4 is provided with. ates 25 by which the flow of sand to themods 26 may be controlled. In order to insure a free flow of sand fromthe hopfig whenever the delivery gates or contro g valves are opened, Iprovide the hopper, with a vibrator 24. Any suitable form of vibratormay be used of sufiicient power to' impart the necessary agitation tothe contents of the hopper, an electrical vibrator of usual constructionbeing well adapted for this use.

A riddle or sand screen 27 is preferably a belt 23 connects the motorshaft interposed between the elevator and-the sand hopper. The screen 27is represented as being operated by a pitman 30 connected with a crankdriven from the head wheel of the elevator 6, as shown in Fig. 1.

In order to utilize the floor space of the foundry to the-best advantagethe machines such as I have described should, in their ordinary uses,follow irected courses or paths, and for this urpose I provide railswith which the whees 3 of the portable ma-- chine engage. These railsshould not pro-' ject above the floor of the foundry and I therefore.preferably form each rail of a pa r of parallel angle irons 28 spacedapart to leave a groove'29 between them in which travel the flanges ofthe wheels 3. One flangeof each angle iron is substantially flush withthe floor surface and the other constitutes a wall bounding the groove29.

' The operation of the apparatus herein describedns as follows, it beingassumed that the art cles from a previous cast have been shaken out ofthe molds and removed and that the sand from which the molds were formedhas been left on the floor of the foundry, and that a molder is about tobegin the making and placing of the molds preparatory to another castingoperation. The machine is run to one end of the pile of sand, the frame5 being adjusted so that the gathering device 10 is lifted substantiallyabove the floor space to clear the sand. Arriving at the end of the sandridge the frame 5 is adjusted to'working position and advanced towardthepile of sand with which the gatherin means 10 engage. The blades 12 0this gat ererbreak up any large lumps or pieces of sand as the latter ismoved toward the boot of the elevator where it is taken u through theframe 5, and delivered to t e hopper, being further broken up, screenedand mixed by the riddle 27 before reaching the hopper. From the hop erthe molder draws the sand as required y him in making his molds, thevibrator 24 insuring that the sand shall flow freely from the hopperwhenever the delivery valves or gates are 0 ened.

The mec amsm for operating the molds is not'shown, as this may be ofusual or pre ferred construction. The apparatus may be,

and usually will be, moved intermittently,

as the molder fills the space on the foundry floor in rear of themachine with the completed molds. Whenever the machine advances thegatherer 10 takes up the sand and delivers it to the elevator which in'turn delivers to the sand hopper as has been described.

While I have describedjmy invention as.

embodied in apparatus intended to be used in themaking of sand 'moldsfor metal castings, I do not thereby wish to be understood asrestricting its useful applications to such apparatus as it may be usedin other apparatus adapted to gather loose material from a floor surfaceover which the portable machine is caused to travel.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent 15:

1. The combination with a carriage of a containing hopper carriedthereby, an elevator for deliveringv material to the hopper, gatheringmeans for collecting loose material from a floor surface over which thecarriage moves and delivering it to the elevator, and a frame thatcarries both the elevator and the gathering means and ,is adjustabletoward or from the floor surface relative to the carriage so that thegathering means may passover more or less of the material on the surfacewithout engaging therewith. v

2. The combination with a carriage, a. ho per carried thereby, asupplemental uprig t frame, extensions from the carriage for supportingand guiding the upright sup- JOHN CLIFFORD MERWIN.

